Post Date December, 03 2023
Many traditional beliefs attribute infertility to the female partner, but this is actually very unscientific. Pregnancy is not an individual matter. In fact, males account for about 20% -40% of clinical infertility. Husbands of infertility patients should not be overly confident and avoid necessary examinations intentionally or unintentionally due to the absence of obvious diseases.
If a married couple cohabits for more than two years without taking any contraceptive measures, and the woman never becomes pregnant, it is called infertility. According to relevant literature reports, 10% to 15% of married couples experience infertility. Infertility is caused by the male partner, which is called male infertility. The physiological activities of male reproduction mainly include a series of processes such as spermatogenesis, maturation, semen formation, ejaculation and sperm egg fertilization. Different factors that interfere with any of the above processes can affect fertility and cause male infertility.
Scientific judgment of male infertility
The general procedure for diagnosing male infertility: Firstly, it should be clear whether it is male infertility or female infertility, or whether both parties have infertility diseases; If it is male infertility, it should be clarified whether male absolute infertility or relative infertility is primary or secondary infertility; Finally, the cause of male infertility should be identified.
The examination and diagnosis methods of male infertility generally include detailed medical history, physical examination, laboratory examination, imaging examination and other examinations.
Firstly, doctors will collect detailed and complete medical history, which is an important basis for determining the diagnostic approach. Generally, inquiries should be made from aspects such as marriage and childbirth history, sexual life history, past medical history, and family member medical history.
Secondly, the examination includes the differential diagnosis of male infertility such as height, weight, posture, appearance and obesity, including congenital testicular malformation, injury and dysplasia. At the same time, prostate massage can be done to take prostatic fluid and send it to the laboratory for examination.
Next is the laboratory examination to rule out factors such as epididymitis, seminal vesiculitis, urogenital inflammation, prostatitis, and other bacterial infections. In addition, semen examination is an important diagnostic item for male infertility, which can reflect the quality of sperm produced by the testes, the smoothness of the seminal tract, and the secretion function of the epididymal glands.
Self inspection can detect warning signals
The main causes of male infertility are genetics, abnormal sex hormones, varicocele, reproductive tract infections, cryptorchidism, bad lifestyle habits, and external pollution. If men know some simple reproductive knowledge and self testing methods, they can conduct effective self testing.
If you gently touch along the spermatic cord from top to bottom and find large, worm like, soft, and convoluted masses inside the scrotum, then be careful, this may be varicocele. It will increase the temperature of the testis, and the stagnation of venous blood will affect the metabolism of the testis, thus interfering with spermatogenesis, resulting in the decline of semen quality.
If there is testicular swelling and pain, and the testicles gradually shrink after relief, it may be testicular torsion or traumatic atrophy after orchitis. This is often accompanied by irreversible damage to spermatid. If the testicles fail to descend into the scrotum and remain in the abdominal cavity, it is called cryptorchidism. Excessive temperature in the abdominal cavity is not conducive to sperm production, and the risk of testicular malignancy is greatly increased.
Observing semen can also partially reflect fertility. Normal semen is gray white or slightly yellow, and if pink or red appears, it is bloody semen. The normal semen volume is 2-6 milliliters, and if it exceeds 7 milliliters, it is considered excessive. Not only will the sperm density decrease, but it is also easy to flow out of the female body, resulting in a decrease in the total number of sperm. If the total amount of semen is less than 2 milliliters, it means that the semen volume is low. Less than 1 milliliter is considered too low and can easily lead to infertility. After ejaculation, semen generally turns into liquid within 15 to 30 minutes. If it cannot change its shape after more than 30 minutes, it is called non liquefaction of semen in clinical practice and is also a cause of infertility.
(Intern Editor: Cai Junyi)
